


The Road Ahead

by songofdefiance



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: DOTO spoilers, Gen, Human!Outsider, Post-Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 04:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12809844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songofdefiance/pseuds/songofdefiance
Summary: The Outsider sniffs it, wrinkles his nose slightly, and then takes a sip.  He makes a face almost immediately, starting on his potato scallops instead.  “Why exactly do people drink this?”Billie smirks.  “I guess the Outsider was never that interested in watching what happened in bars.”“It was a rhetorical question.”“Really?  I can never tell with you.”





	The Road Ahead

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "I just want more of Billie and the Outsider hanging out and being bros post or pre DOTO tbh"
> 
> They are so fun omg

They squat in an abandoned apartment for the first week.  

Billie feels like she barely sleeps, spending most of her time hunched over on the balcony.  She doesn’t know why she’s keeping a lookout, unsure of who she’s expecting to come after them.  More cultists?  The Grand Guard?  The Overseers, somehow aware that the Outsider is human once again?

The Outsider gives off the appearance of calm, but he’s pushed his mattress into a corner of the room and sleeps curled up in a ball with his back to the wall.  Billie pretends not to hear his murmurs when he dreams.

They sleep during the day, avoiding the worst of the heat and prying eyes, and Billie brings the Outsider with her when she leaves at night, usually getting a meal at one of the seedier bars in the city.  She’s gotten the Outsider clothes that make him look like a fisherman, baggy and too large, and has taken to wearing a patch over her eye.  

No one ever seems interested in calling the Grand Guard.

It’s on one such night that Billie buys them both beers along with their food, sliding one over to the Outsider.  He picks it up, eyeing it warily.

“It won’t kill you,” Billie says, sipping hers.

“If it’s from  _this_ establishment, then I remain skeptical.”

“It’s pretty hard to go wrong with beer.”  Though this certainly isn’t the best.  “Although if you  _really_ don’t want it, then I’ll drink it.”

The Outsider sniffs it, wrinkles his nose slightly, and then takes a sip.  He makes a face almost immediately, starting on his potato scallops instead.  “Why exactly do people drink this?”

Billie smirks.  “I guess the Outsider was never that interested in watching what happened in bars.”

“It was a rhetorical question.”

“Really?  I can never tell with you.”

It’s the Outsider’s turn to smirk at her, before turning his attention back to his meal.  Billie does, indeed, end up finishing both her beer and his, ordering him a pear soda instead.  

“So,” the Outsider says, raising an eyebrow at her.  “Why the celebratory drinks?  I’m assuming there’s a reason.  You’re not one to splurge.”

“I finally got us passage on a ship.”  Billie drains the last of her beer.  “I’ve overstayed my welcome in Karnaca, and I get the feeling you want to get as far away from here as possible.”

“You’re not wrong,” the Outsider replies.  “Where are we headed?”

He seems content to follow her lead on this one, so she takes a deep breath, unsure of what his reaction will be.

“Dunwall.”

His eyebrows almost disappear into his hairline.  “You?  Willing to go back to Dunwall?”

“I figured you’d want to go,” she counters.  “And I have to talk to Emily.”

A faint smile appears on his face.  “It would be nice to see them again.  But I assumed that you wouldn’t be comfortable with going back there.”

“I never said I was going to stay there.  Though you’re welcome to do whatever you like, you don’t have to stick with me forever.”

The Outsider’s smile dims a bit.  “I can’t say that I haven’t enjoyed your company, Billie.  I’d be sad to see you go.”

Billie rolls her eyes and kicks him lightly under the table, and pretends like she wouldn’t miss him in return.

* * *

Dunwall Tower may be a comfortable place to live, but that doesn’t mean that Billie and the Outsider aren’t kept busy.  Emily asks Billie to be her Royal Protector within days of the two of them arriving at Dunwall Tower, and the Outsider starts working for Corvo.  In addition to what he already knows, he’s good at slipping into crowded places unnoticed, and eavesdropping.

It’s not often that either of them have a quiet moment to themselves.  It’s even rarer for them to both have a spare moment at the same time.  In this particular instance, it’s nearly midnight and a charity ball has just finished, during which time Billie had watched, barely holding in her laughter, as the Outsider threw sheer scorn at an increasingly offended Lady Preston.

“It was pure  _gold_ ,” Billie is telling him.  “‘That was sarcasm, in case you couldn’t tell’ - did you see her  _face_ -”

“I was standing right in front of her,” the Outsider says, snickering.  “Of course I did.”

“What got you started on her, anyway?”

The Outsider shrugs.  “Well, for one thing, she was openly contemptuous of my essay on how the whaling trade will eventually lead to the downfall of Dunwall’s economy.  And another, she started questioning your commitment to being the Royal Protector.”

“Cute,” Billie says dryly.  “You know you don’t  _have_ to defend my honor, right?”

“Don’t think of it as me defending you,” the Outsider replies.  “Think of it as petty revenge.”

Billie nods.  Petty revenge against the nobles here is something she can get behind.  She’s lost count of the number of times she’s wanted to stab herself in her other eye during Emily’s long meetings with Parliament.

They’re overseeing cleanup from the ball, giving Corvo a break.  Emily is speaking with some of the laborers, thanking them for their services and asking after their families.  Billie and the Outsider hang back on the outskirts, merely keeping an eye on things.

“What a strange life you lead,” the Outsider says.  “You, formerly an enemy of the state, and now you’re the Lady Protector.”

“You’re one to talk,” Billie retorts.  “Going from god of the Void to spy and whale-protecting activist?”

“I aim to cause trouble.”

“No you don’t,” she says.  “You’re actually trying.  Not many people would.”

“I suppose not,” the Outsider admits.  “But I’d be wasting the chance you gave me if I didn’t.”

Billie knocks her shoulder into his, smiling.  It’s nice to have someone who won’t leave, or be left behind by, her.  “Yeah.  You would.”


End file.
